Five Suggestions for Quicker Turn Times

Appraising is a constantly changing profession. Commonly, it seems, appraisers are asked to provide additional information or have steps added to their process. They do this extra work to ensure the end user is presented with the most useful information possible. In order to stay current with the constantly changing requirements, Willamette Valley Appraisal Professionals is always testing additional tools and tweaking processes to increase efficiency so we can do more work for our customers. At Willamette Valley Appraisal Professionals we know that time is important to everybody, so below are a few things you can do to decrease turn times each time you order an appraisal with Willamette Valley Appraisal Professionals:

Always order your appraisals electronically. By ordering online, you receive automatic e-mail confirmations that the assignment was received, and fast, secure .PDF format report delivery. It's the single biggest time saver available to both of us! No longer do we have to manually enter information from a fax, and you don't have to wonder whether the order was received.
Confirm that the subject property information is accurate and complete. Being just one number off on the street address can really unnecessarily slow down an appraisal assignment. Unique identifiers like a tax parcel number, plat map number, or subdivision name are helpful data to include with your assignment. Even a list of recent sales in the area is welcome — however, remember that professional appraisers must always do their own due diligence on comparable sales, and ours might differ from yours.


	Feel free to call us at 503-786-9944 if you have any questions about your property or an appraisal we're working on for you.

Tell us up front of the property's unique characteristics. It's relatively easy to appraise a cookie-cutter house. Most of an appraiser's time is spent analyzing how differing features add to or detract from what otherwise would be a property's market value. When ordering your report, let us know if there are unique features of the home or surrounding area -- for example, it's had a recent addition put on, it's subject to zoning restrictions, and it's predisposed to flooding. These are things we would find out on our own anyway, and knowing them early on will likely make your report arrive quicker.
Be sure the homeowner knows the plan. Confirming an appointment with the homeowner can be one of the most inefficient steps in the appraisal process. It's understandable for a homeowner to be uneasy with an outsider inspecting every square foot of their home, taking photos, and making abundant notes. One common belief is that they must make the place spotless before the appraisal inspection, having the thought that will increase the value . So they choose to not schedule the appointment until it is cleaned.

Coming directly from you -- a trusted party with whom they are already working -- some info about the appraisal process, who we are, and especially that dusting and polishing won't make a significant difference in their home's value, will help move the process along for everyone. I encourage you to point your customers to this website, where we have multiple pages of relevant information for homeowners as well as others describing the appraisal process. Have them call us if they want to meet our staff and learn more about our services. Remind them it benefits them to set the appointment soon!
Use our website to verify your report's status. Why are you still playing phone and fax tag when our website offers up-to-the-minute status updates available online, anytime, 24/7? As we complete each important milestone in an assignment, that information is instantly available to you online. It's never been easier and faster to keep track of the status of your report.